A review by booklywookly
Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee

4.0

Where was Bharati Mukherjee and her books all my life?! 

Meet Jane. “Jane as in Jane Russell, not Plain Jane.” Jane is in Iowa, living a quiet farmer’s life on a 200 acre farm with her boyfriend - her much older paraplegic boyfriend. Together they have adopted a Vietnamese refugee who is only a few years younger than Jane. Jane has already lived many lives. Jane was Jazzy. Jane was Jase. Jane was Jasmine. Jane was Jyoti from a small village in India who survived being killed immediately after her birth for being a girl child, seventh in the family. Jane is 24. Jane is an illegal migrant in USA. 

This little book has so much going on, and I ain’t complaining. Clashes of ideologies resulting in citywide violence. Dead husband. Dislocation and displacement. Immigration fiction. Cultural identity and identity crisis. Casual racism. Strong female protagonist suspended between two worlds, on her way to self discovery. Resilience. Survival. 

Sounds familiar? Jhumpa Lahiri fans will surely love this book that preceded Interpreter of Maladies by a year. I would be shocked if Lahiri hasn’t listed her writing as an influence. Bharati is pre-Rome Lahiri, but her work is more intense, darker, grittier, and her lead has a stronger voice. Bharati Mukherjee may be no more with us, but she has found a new fan. I am going to read her more. Glad to have this copy from 1990. 

Jasmine ran, so that The Namesake and The Lowland could fly. 

P.S. A quick search suggested this book was a course read in a lot of universities in US. Interesting.